Ashihiki no yama ni oitaru shirakashi no shiraji na hito o kuchiki nari tomo - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

あしひきの山に生ひたる白樫の
知らじな人を朽木なりとも

Roma-ji: Ashihiki no yama ni oitaru shirakashi no shiraji na hito o kuchiki nari tomo
English Translation: Like the white oak
that grows upon the mountain
with its trailing foot,
I shall not know you, not I—
even should I rot to wood
Meaning: Like the white oak, shirakashi, growing on the mountain, I shall not know you—shiraji—not I, even should I rot away like fallen timber.
Commentary: Book Fifteen Miscellaneous Poems I 1084

Headnote: "In reply to a woman who had told me not to talk as if I knew her."
The poet says that, like the white oak named shirakashi, he will not know her, not even should he rot away like old timber. Told by a woman not to act as if he knew her, he answers with a sulky air that, in that case, he will never know her at all.
According to the headnote, a woman had told him not to speak as though he knew her, and he composed this as his reply.
The poet, "Mitsune," is Ōshikōchi no Mitsune. One of the compilers of the Kokinshu, he is counted among the Thirty-Six Poetic Immortals. The Ogura Hyakunin Isshu includes his poem "Kokoroate ni oraba ya oramu hatsushimo no."

The first line, "Ashihiki no," is a pillow word for "yama," mountain.
The second line, "yama ni oitaru," means "growing on the mountain."
The third line, "shirakashi no," means "of the white oak." The lines up to here form a preface that, through the shared sound "shira," leads into "shiraji" in the fourth line.
The fourth line, "shiraji na hito o," means "I shall not know you," with "ji" negative intention and "na" an exclamatory particle. Complying with her wish, he resolves to feign ignorance, with the word order inverted.
The last line, "kuchiki nari tomo," means "even if I am rotten wood," with "tomo" an adversative supposition. In keeping with the mountain tree he places "kuchiki," rotten wood, meaning he will feign ignorance even if he wastes away.
Author: Oshikochi no Mitsune
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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